Bali Bound

Day 6 I find it amazing to say that day 6 has brought us to a day where we've seen everything on the must see list and now we're just checking out extra, leftover places that we were okay without seeing.  Not to say we didn't see anything worth seeing as we still found a few interesting stops. We took a different metro line, Line B.  It's confusing.  You have to pick the right entrance for the direction you want to go.  Northbound one entrance, southbound a different entrance.  We lucked out on the way there but were really lost on the way back.  We did eventually figure it out.  Also the stations were nuts.  There were sooo many people and then we were pushed towards the wrong exit and ended up walking in circles to get out.  We finally found an escape and the fresh air was a nice find!  We made it back to the hotel without any issues, well except that I was awake enough to notice that there was a big gelateria a block away from th...

Day 5 Today was our last day trip out of Rome.  I make it sound like we were always off some some exotic adventure when really it's just us wandering around the streets of Rome with our tourist map looking for something exciting or a metro stop. One thing I haven't mentioned is the water fountains.  The ancient Romans were far more advanced than modern Romans.  Our tour guide in Pompeii mentioned that people in Pompeii willing and able to pay had running water in their homes, where when he grew up in the 70's they had no option for running water in their homes, they had to go to the fountains for water.  But they still have the old aqua ducts and while there are few public bathrooms there is ample cold running water at fountains spread across the city, and even in Florence.  And the water was delicious, and not all chemically like our water tends to be here.  I miss it a little. But today we ventured out on our own to Pisa and Florence.  As soon...

Day 4 We had another lazy start to our day.  Today was Vatican day.  We took the metro over and fortunately it wasn't quite as busy as our first attempt.  It was a quick walk from the metro station to Vatican City, as everything looks far on the map but is far closer than it looks.  Along the way we passed a ton of people offering tours that let you skip the lines.  And boy were the lines long.  And the tour groups got first priority into the Vatican museum. Ceiling in the map room Mosaic floors in Vatican Museum Instead of waiting for a few hours at each place we picked a guide and lucked out with the tour leaving right away.  We got to walk past the gigantic line of people who were waiting.  It was a good moment.  The Vatican museum puts the Louvre to shame a bit.  Our tour was really just the guide pointing out pieces on the way through the museum on the way to the Sistine Chapel.  Which was a special journey.  ...

Day 3 Today was our planned bus trip to Pompeii.  All the books and internet talked about how easy it was to get there.  And then I found the tour that included getting to climb Mount Vesuvius.  Sold. Misty piazza del Popolo It was a good day.  We navigated the metro to the piazza to meet the group.  And it was fun to see the piazza all foggy and empty for the most part.  It was not like that later on in the day.  It was about a 2 hour drive or so to get to Naples which is the closest city to Pompeii.  But we had 2 tour guides so they took turns during the drive there and back to share details of what to expect and to tell us about the area.  And the big pizza lesson before we were to decide on our lunch selection. The climb to the volcano crater was a little tough but doable.  It was a little tricky as the path was made of some sort of fine gravel mixture that was almost like walking in sand.  The views were pretty good ...

Day 2 We had a leisurely start to our day.  Staying up that long is tiring, I think it was a 29 hour day by the time we went to bed!  Our hotel has a free breakfast which is better than I expected.  Although, I do find the interpretation of an "American Breakfast" funny sometimes.  But what they have is more than enough to keep us going.  And they have 2 types of orange juice, blond and red.  The red is delicious, I miss it already. We started off with taking the metro to the Spanish steps, where I had my first gelato of the day.  The metro is easy and incredibly cheap to use.  Only it can be crazy busy.  We were like sardines in there.  And when you thought you couldn't get anyone else on more people got on.  I had to physically push people out of my way to clear a path to the door. One irritation here is that people have a tendency to just stop where ever they are currently walking.  No  moving off to the side. ...

I have made it home and I'm mostly rested.  I'm getting used to the time change again and getting all the regular post vacation things done.  I cleaned out my wallet and was a little ashamed to see how many gelato recipes I had.  But it was everywhere and it was delicious!  So I'm going to start on my full blogs now.  I apologize in advance if some of it is repetitious but you get pictures now so that should even it out.  I hope! ***************************************************************** Day 1 We left Friday morning and arrived Saturday morning, even though we didn't have to travel for 24 hours thankfully.  It's always tough to arrive in the morning to try to get adjusted to the local time.  We did fortunately get a room when we arrived and had a chance to relax and then head out.  As the best cure for jet lag is motion we wandered around our new neighbourhood.  We headed up to the main train station, Termini, to see how far...

The transit strike didn't affect too much.  It did mean they shut down all the escalators in the metro stations and just generally slowed things down.  But to compensate the parking and driving restrictions in the city Centre are dropped so you can just drive to work.  Which means the roads are busier.  But it didn't affect me so I'm good. I walked around a bit of Rome today, hit some different piazzas but I would have been okay if I didn't make it there.  In the afternoon we did a crypt and catacombs tour.  It was really interesting and a nice way to finish the holiday.  But don't worry, we left the undead there, where they belong! We've checked in and mostly packed and it feels real that its home time tomorrow.  But I'm ready to come home.  And hearing the terrible singers from the evangelical Baptist church across the street makes it easier to leave!  And boy do they sing for a long time. Check back in a few days when I'm over ...